Australian Study
Shows Increased Mortality In Workers Exposed to Pesticides

(Beyond Pesticides.
June 3, 2003) An Australian study published in the May 2003 issue
of Environmental Health Perspectives (Vol. 111, No. 5) finds increased
mortality in workers who applied pesticides as part of their job. The
study, "Health Impacts of Pesticide Exposure in a Cohort of Outdoor
Workers," compares the mortality of 1,999 outdoor workers who applied
insecticides to livestock as part of a tick control program from 1935-1996
with that of 1,984 outdoor workers not occupationally exposed to insecticides,
and with the Australian population.

Health effects of
the study subjects were tracked through Australia's universal health care
system, with which each citizen is required to register. Surviving subjects
also completed a morbidity questionnaire. Questions focused on factors
that might potentially confound the broader study, such as smoking or
alcohol consumption, pesticide exposure history, a validated neuropsychologic
score, and a range of nonfatal outcomes that may potentially be related
to pesticide exposure.

According to the Board
of Tick Control records, arsenic was used to control ticks from 1935-1955;
DDT was used from 1955-1962; and a variety of "modern chemicals,"
including coumaphos, carbophenothion, carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, bromophos
ethyl, dioxothion, ethion, chlordimeform, cymyazole, chlormethiuron, amitraz,
promacyl, cypermethrin, chlorfenvinphos and flumethrin were used from
1962 until the present.

Compared with the
general Australian population, mortality over the total study period is
increased for asthma, diabetes and pancreatic cancer. Compared with the
control population, mortality is increased for leukemia. There is also
an increase in self-reported chronic illness and asthma, and lower neuropsychologic
functioning scores among surviving exposed subjects when compared with
controls. The researchers say that these recent findings lend weight to
other studies suggesting an association between adverse health effects
and exposure to pesticides.